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DOI: 10.12731/2218-7405-2016-1-7 UDC 378
RELATEDNESS OF FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT AND AN ECONOMIST IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AT A non-LINGUISTIC HIGH SCHOOL
Postnikova E.V.
The article deals with the problem of a foreign language, its functions and influence on development ofprofessionally important skills of economists. Because of business integration, new information technologies development, expanding of information sphere, business and personal contacts in modern society, a foreign language and its functions should be used to demonstrate as an essential tool for carrying out professional prognostic skills in students-economists and its professional application. During the process of education in high school a foreign language can be not only the subject but also the medium ofprofessional skills and knowledge. This paper presents the analysis of a foreign language as an important means of student development in professional sphere of life, expanding the professional knowledge of students, promoting prognostic professional skills formation in students-economists.
Keywords: foreign language; functions of a foreign language; professional prognostic skills; formation of professionally important skills; students-economists.
СООТНЕСЕННОСТЬ ФУНкЦИй ИНОЯЗЫЧНОй СРЕДЫ И ЭкОНОМИСТА В ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОМ ПРОЦЕССЕ В НЕЯЗЫкОВОМ ВУЗЕ
Постникова Е.В.
В статье рассматривается проблема соотнесенности функций иноязычной среды и экономиста, их роль в образовательном процессе в неязыковом вузе. Представлен анализ средств формирования профессионально значимых умений студентов-будущих экономистов.
ключевые слова: иноязычная среда; функции иноязычной среды; формирование профессионально-значимых умений прогнозирования; студенты-будущие экономисты.
One of the top-priority among new scientific inquiry directions which are lately discussed in methodology is the issue of general scientific knowledge facilities. This concerns global modern society development trends as well as its development features in Russia that has a direct impact on the graduate of the higher professional education system. The level of national system excellence for personnel training is a prime consideration for prosperity of the modern society. Except for formation of a new value system, education related to science and researches generates a potential for development of national economics. Higher economic education under the influence of environment dynamics, risk for development of unstable social relations, competitive ability of training system for graduating high school students is characterized by searching new facilities for training of highly-qualified personnel.
Amplification of integrative processes in science brought into the world brand new general scientific gnoseological phenomena, namely new knowledge facilities. This includes such concepts and categories as algorithm, virtuality and information, model, system etc. General scientific knowledge facilities being the result of interaction of different scientific knowledge branches also appear to be an important mechanism for further intensification of scientific knowledge synthesis processes which are related to the process of its differentiation as well. While solving complex, interdisciplinary issues by means of general scientific research facilities, a further approach originates as well as of integration of fundamental and applicative knowledge, related researches producing this knowledge [6].
Philosophically, scientific research facilities are the key element in the scientific research structure. This may include in most common form not only a thing or complex of things which a human being places between himself and the work object and which are designed for him as a guide of his impacts on this thing, not only all material conditions necessary for making a process, but also ideal regulations: samples, methods, rules, social and cultural orienting points, facilities for understanding, evaluation, control, authorization for research operations and procedures - all that anyhow influences on organization and stimulation of a research activity, makes it possible to obtain the prescheduled result (K. Marx). Scientific research facilities accumulate options allowing to define and evaluate the results to be obtained from the perspective of their objective genuineness and logical relevance. Specificity of cognitive facilities in any science is disclosed, firstly, by accentuation of an actual master facility; secondly, by determining of special organization of other facilities, bringing separate elements from their whole complex to front [1]. The actual facilities are determined by nature of the object under consideration, by the related object knowledge system. In this context, dependence of philosophic research facilities on philosophic world outlook shows up. Induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, classification and generalization, analogy and similarity, abstraction and ide-
alization, modelling and imaginary experiment shall be emphasized among the philosophic facilities. Generally, the concept 'facilities' are human activity facilities.
Activity is a process or such an object (event) featuring a change of certain collection of objects in time. T.V. Gabay applied a structured approach to consider an activity since, according to the scientist, the structure is a relation to be considered as having become in abstraction of change as if time is turned off. Accordingly, the structured approach represents a research of an object in terms connections, integrity as a result having become. Activity facilities differ in a range of directions: relation to their applying subject, coverage of its functions, nature of objects used as facilities as well as in types of mediated activities. Facilities used by the subject may be considered as continuances and partly substitutes of one or another subject items carried out outwards, out of the body of the doer. The «tie» to a certain subject item acts as one of main bases for classification of activity facilities. Therefore, separate groups of facilities help the subject get information about the world around and amplify possibilities of his natural afferent apparatus [3].
Human activities may be rated into two groups standing in opposition to each other: activities with complicated information systems and activities with relative simpler material objects, things and different materials. Facilities being applied in activity with material things are material things, these are instruments. In activity with information systems, the subject applies specific informative facilities, actually, these are signals. In live systems under consideration at the level of an activity subject, they serve as challenges or signs. Facilities affecting the information system serve for it as orienting points or selection criteria of one or another state or activity type; they are widely used in the educational process in a certain form [6].
The specificity of facilities used in learning activity is determined by features of its structure moments and first of all by the subject matter and procedure. The main facility for approximate part of learning is information about its initial structured moments together with its physical media. The execute part of learning requires also different types of facilities according to subtasks to be implemented by the one or another group of executive operations. The main facility of the executive part of learning is a scheme of approximate basis for this activity. Considering that learning is the main function part of educational activity, the central facility shall be exactly the scheme of approximate basis for the activity to be learnt by students.
As education activity shall be considered the sub-system of education activity which is focused on creation of implementation conditions for education activity. Education activity includes a range of functional components: thing, facilities and procedure, in other words internal activity conditions. Both activities - learning and teaching - are differentiated inside the educational activity. If a specific
teacher aims to achieve the final target of the education activity, so participation of all other teachers in reference to him may be considered as usage by this person of living polyfunctional facilities of education activity that implement one or another of its components [2].
While theoretical understanding of different approaches and facilities for training of specialists in economics, the following conclusion was drawn that researcher consider educational facilities becoming the master factor approaching the education process to real professional activity conditions.
The researchers consider:
1) modern information technologies;
2) extension of number of specialities;
3) certain personality features (competency, mastery);
4) usage of the educational subject, foreign language in particular.
Since the professional education of economists shall provide conditions for formation of forecasting skills, it is necessary in that context to determine the essence of the concept «skill».
The concept «skill» has several definitions of essentially close meaning in scientific literature: methods of successful execution of actions based on knowledge; human ability to perform any activity or action based on lessons learned; possibility to carry out an action in accordance with activity purposes and conditions [6]. Specific specialties of skills may be emphasized that distinguishing them from experience: no automation while performing actions; permanent usage of supports for knowledge and preceding experience while performing actions; parallel usage of separate simple attains that are components of actions while no automation; availability of full self-check while performing actions; availability of special stages for formation of skills - from the primary (original) up to the secondary (highly-developed) one.
Four basic activity types are emphasized in the forecasting professional activity type structure: analytic, diagnostic, prognostic and correctional. The analytic activity is an activity for decomposition, division of items, event as certain entirety into separate parts, composite elements (from Greek «analysis» - decomposition, dismemberment), therefore, in order to implement analytic activity, the following skills are required: how to perceive and extract any information, how to conduct a system analysis of information, how to synthesize information, how to compare information, how to abstract acquired data, how to draw up results. The analytic skills require knowledge of a complex of forecasting methods. The specialist in the economic field shall be able to know prognosis methods and use them in professional activities at every step of professional activity for forecasting. A forecasting method means «method for research of a forecasting object focused on forecast development» [7]. At
the state of analysis, the specialist in economics shall know how to use Delphi method that is based on usage while forecasting as a source of information for generalized estimation of an expert group via processing individual, independent evaluations by experts of the group as well as by method of morphological analysis.
All problematic situations for expert estimation according to formal features divide into three classes: low-formalized problems in regard to which there is an information material sufficient for their solution but its implementation is related to the necessity to select experts, to build rational examination procedures and to apply optimal methods for processing its results; non-formalized problems when informative potential of knowledge is insufficient for assurance of justice for the specified estimations; non-formalizing problems information for solution of which can be obtained only by discovering subjective opinions of the experts.
The scope of the method for expert evaluations is extremely wide, that includes: listing of possible scopes for a certain time period; determination of the most probable time periods for event execution; targeting and task definition for the process with arrangement in order of importance; determination of alternative versions to solve the tasks with valuation of their preference; facilities assignment to solve the tasks with valuation of their preference etc. The morphological analysis solves three types of problems: what approaches are needed to obtain all available information; what is the complete evaluation of consequences resulting from the certain cause; search for solution of this problem. The morphological analysis structures thinking in such a way that new information is generated which escapes while unsystematic imagination activity. Morphological thinking shall be complemented with normative thinking.
The diagnostic activity is a procedure for diagnosing about condition of any event based on special research of the information obtained, that is why the professional in economics needs the follow-ings skills: how to structure information, who to set a goal and define a problem, how to plan, how to make a decision, a diagnosis. At this stage, the economist shall know the scenario forecasting method (intuitive logical method). The scenario method refers to non-formalized forecasting methods. The basis is a system approach which installs secure relations and common factors in origin and development of situations such as crisis, discloses causative-consecutive, chronological relations between events and phenomena, determines the most essential factors influencing on the origin of external or internal situations. The scenario method allows to create models, relevant to the object being simulated and to show it in a view that the consumer can easy understand.
The prognostic activity is an activity for forecasting in consequence of a special research based on certain data obtained as follows from the analysis and diagnosis. Forecasting activity is focused
on changing in two levels - objectively and ideally. In the first instance, an actual change of material existence - natural, social, human - happens. The activity like that is called practice. In the second instance, the object changes only in imagination - this activity is simulating function of which is to provide practical activity with forward-looking and guiding forecasts, plans, manners. In the first and second cases, forecasting activity can be creative or mechanical [6]. In order to implement the prognostic activity, the following skills are needed: how to generalize information data, how to simulate information, how to manage the situation, how to forecast, how to organize information. A specialist shall know the simulation method the main point of which is in building search and normative models with due regard to probable or desirable change of predicted event for the period of forecast advance for available direct or indirect data about scales and course of changes.
Correctional activity is based on verification procedure. Verification (latin: verus - true, facio -am making) is an evidence, confirmation; procedure for verification of scientific regulations in the process of their empirical verification, i.e. by inspecting, measuring or experimenting. Verification can be direct, in other words directly leading to facts, and indirect, proving the verity through logical consequences of the regulation to be checked. In order to implement a correctional activity, the following skills are needed: how to evaluate results of own activity, how to analyze the activity experience obtained, how to control the situation, how to handle the situation, how to correct information, how to self-reflect. The specialist shall know the complex of methods including: interscientific and specific scientific methods.
The forecast effect is achieved when a complex of methods is used since the forecast process is complicated and different techniques and methods are needed at every stage (analysis - diagnosis - forecast - verification). Therefore, inference should be drawn that for every stage of professional activity, an economist shall have the following groups of forecasting skills: analytic, diagnostic, prognostic, correctional.
In relation to development of international activity, active implementation of new technologies, acquisition foreign professional space, intensification of professional activity in close contact with foreign specialists, foreign language at a non-linguistic high school becomes a subject matter and knowledge facility. Specialists in economics knowing a foreign language in a professional manner are considered as the macroeconomic factor.
Foreign language as one of the educational subjects at a non-linguistic high school is a subject matter and knowledge facility. Compared to other subjects, foreign language is simultaneously a purpose and teaching facility. So if a student masters all other subject matters with a language as a tool, an instrument, a problem occurs while learning a foreign language step-by-step with external
management from easier facilities and methods to solve with their help more complicated tasks [8]. Therefore, foreign language may be evaluated as a facility for student's professional development which has specific language features - linguistic means. Foreign language having developmental, professionally enriching potential, provides additional resource for formation of professionally significant skills for students - soon-to-be economists stipulated with internal motivation. According to Kulyutkin Yu.N., motivation in education is «interrelationship of learning objectives with needs, requests, interests of a personality as well as knowledge how to achieve them» [5]. Motivation is stated both in general attitude of a student to education and to his activity in the education process. Most psychologists, in particular A.G. Asmolov, L.S. Vygotskiy, I.A. Zimnyaya, B.A. Lomov, N.F. Taky-zina and others, highlight two motivation types and related two behavior types: a) external motivation and accordingly external motivated behavior; 6) internal motivation and accordingly internal motivated behavior [3]. External and internal motivation have a special influence on behavior and human activity. External motivation is stipulated by external regulating challenges of operations and action of a personality. Internal motivation is related to needs in self-determination and competency when factors regulating behavior and activity proceed from the personalized «Me».
Successful acquisition of a foreign language requires its integration in the system of student's vital interests. One of these permanently active interests shall be all that is related to their future profession and to the fields of science that they learn. Foreign language takes personal meaning and becomes an operative factor for learning motivation, facility for formation of professionally significant skills of economists when the object of study is not the science of language but speech, speech activity. Foreign language becomes a tool to achieve professional objectives broadening professional knowledge of students providing formation of professional skills of students - soon-to-be economists.
Table 1
Relatedness of functions of an economist and a foreign language environment
Functions of an economist Approaches to achievement of personhood for an economist Functions of a foreign language environment
1. Forecasting 2. Projecting 3. Adaptive Environmental 1. Educational 2. Instructional 3. Disciplinary
4. Organizing 5. Communicative Role-playing 4. Developing
6. Cognitive Culturological 5. Compensative 6. Adaptive
7. Diagnostic 8. Correctional Person-centered
Among the factors influencing on professional establishment of students - soon-to-be economists, foreign language environment is of great importance since it performs several functions: educational, instructional, developmental, disciplinary, compensative, adaptive [6].
The adaptive function of foreign language environment is implemented by experience and influences on learning efficiency; the educational function of foreign language environment is implemented by knowledge and contributes to completeness of knowledge acquisition; the instructional functions of foreign language environment is implemented in skills and contributes to completeness of skills acquisition; the developmental function of foreign language environment influences on rate of learning and is implemented in self-education; the disciplinary function of foreign language environment is implemented in self-actualization and contributes to individual training; The compensative function of foreign language environment influences on satisfaction with the learning process and is implemented in learning comfort [9].
The concept of integral educational subject «Foreign Language» if of communicatory oriented and professionally directed nature, and the whole coursework for foreign language shows variety of the subject matter learning of which becomes a requirement for professional establishment of an economist [6]. In process of training, foreign language appears not only as a separate discipline but as a discipline subjected to professional disciplines and is a medium of professional knowledge. Close synchronization and interrelation between foreign language and major disciplines (which is stated in the thesaurus about language events, variety professional situation) and, more importantly, dependence of the first one on the last ones provides continuity and success rate for acquisition of professional foreign vocabulary, acquisition of reading skills, precis-writing, annotation of economic texts, contributes to formation of foreign speech skills. Such approach to teaching a foreign language first of all considers interdisciplinary nature of this subject and determines the place of foreign language as a medium of special knowledge in implementation of general education professional program. The specification of these requirements is embodied in the following components of foreign language teaching: in the nomenclature of fields and situations of professional direction; in the list of skills and attains for oral and written foreign communication correlating with the specified fields and situations; in the register of selected language events; in the range of specifications about the nature, content, functional and style aspects of information that matters in order to increase motivation to acquire the foreign language.
Therefore, the content of foreign language teaching for special purposes to students-economists is considered as a certain model for natural communication the participants of which have certain fo-
reign language attains and skills as well as ability to relate linguistic means to speech behavior norms the language speakers adhere to. Organization of foreign language teaching process assumes consideration of needs, interests and personal characteristics of a learner, training shall consider principles of a conscientious partnership and interaction with the teacher that directly relates to development of student's self-dependence, his creative activity and personal responsibility for training result.
The content of the subject «Foreign Language» if focused on enrichment of students' vocabulary, on acquirement of professional vocabulary, on formation of skills and attains related to the professional activity of economists. A student shall be wrapped up in response activity while English class. He is constantly drawn on to differentiation actions: to find related equivalent, to find synonyms and antonyms, to translate from one language into another. The language itself influences on the content and formation of conceptual foundations for many disciplines (enterprise economics, global economics, economic analysis) since a thought is not formulated but formed in the language. Terminological and conceptual content of professional relevant disciplines is specified through the foreign language that contributes to development of professional intelligence.
Training a specialist with language facilities means formation of readiness to speak allowing the human being to actualize himself intellectually and emotionally in a proper way both on the receptive and productive level, in other words to perceive and generate texts related to the level of his intellectual, emotional and professional development [4].
Conclusions:
1. Considering processes of business integration, development of new information technologies, expansion of information space, business and personal contacts taking place in the modern society, foreign language environment appears to be a requirement for development and formation of professionally significant skills.
2. A support in the educational process is necessary for such personality pattern of an economist showing specificity of the activity that is why empowerment for its implementation is needed, the result of which are formed professionally significant skills, the leading ones among them become forecasting skills.
3. A training process at a high school shall be subjected to the principle of a professionally significant leitmotiv as educational discipline comprehensive core. Foreign language may appear as a significant basis for formation of professionally significant skills of students - soon-to-be economists. As a tool for formation of forecasting skills of students - soon-to-be economists - appears to be the foreign language for special purposes the content of which is introduced by stages of foreign language
teaching with an orienting point on the result as a foreign language acquisition level providing success in forecasting activity.
4. Interdeterminancy of functions of a foreign language environment and an economist in the educational process at a non-linguistic high school is the foundation of the concept «Foreign language» appearing as a tool for formation of professionally significant skills.
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DATA ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Postnikova Ekaterina Vyacheslavovna, PhD, Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages and Professional Communication
Samara State Aerospace University
151, Molodogvardeyskaya St., Samara, 443001, Russian Federation [email protected]
ДАННЫЕ ОБ АВТОРЕ
Постникова Екатерина Вячеславовна, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков и профессиональной коммуникации
Самарский Государственный Аэрокосмический Университет имени академика С.П. Королева (Национальный Исследовательский Университет)
ул. Молодогвардейская, 151, Самара, Самарская обл., 443001, Российская Федерация [email protected]
